    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 27 (Monday, July 14, 2008)]
    [Pages 975-976]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks on Signing the FISA Amendments Act of 2008

    July 10, 2008

        Thank you all. Please be seated. Thank you. Welcome to the Rose
    Garden. Today I'm pleased to sign landmark legislation that is vital to
    the security of our people. The bill will allow our intelligence
    professionals to quickly and effectively monitor the communications of
    terrorists abroad, while respecting the liberties of Americans here at
    home. The bill I sign today will help us meet our most solemn
    responsibility: to stop new attacks and to protect our people.
        Members of my administration have made a vigorous case for this
    important law. I want to thank them, and I also want to thank the
    Members of the House and the Senate who've worked incredibly hard to get
    this legislation done. Mr. Vice President, welcome.
        Respect the Members of the Senate and the House who've joined us--
    Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl; John Boehner, House Republican leader;
    Roy Blunt, House Republican whip. I do want to pay special tribute to
    Congressman Steny Hoyer, House majority leader, for his hard work on
    this bill. I thank so very much Senator Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the
    Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Senator Kit Bond, vice
    chairman, for joining us. I appreciate the hard work of Congressman
    Silvestre Reyes, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on
    Intelligence, and Congressman Pete Hoekstra, ranking member. I also
    welcome Congressman Lamar Smith, ranking member of the House Judiciary.
    I thank all the other Members of the House and Senate who've joined us;
    appreciate your very good work.
        I welcome Attorney General Michael Mukasey, as well as Admiral Mike
    McConnell, Director of National Intelligence. Appreciate other members
    of the administration who have joined us. I want to thank the
    congressional staff who are here and all the supporters of this piece of
    legislation.

    [[Page 976]]

        Almost 7 years have passed since that September morning when nearly
    3,000 men, women, and children were murdered in our midst. The attack
    changed our country forever. We realized America was at--a nation at war
    against a ruthless and persistent enemy. We realized that these violent
    extremists would spare no effort to kill again. And in the aftermath of
    9/11, few would have imagined that we would be standing here 7 years
    later without another attack on American soil.
        The fact that the terrorists have failed to strike our shores again
    does not mean that our enemies have given up. To the contrary, since 9/
    11, they've plotted a number of attacks on our homeland. Like Members
    standing up here, I receive briefings on the very real and very
    dangerous threats that America continues to face.
        One of the important lessons learned after 9/11 was that America's
    intelligence professionals lacked some of the tools they needed to
    monitor the communications of terrorists abroad. It's essential that our
    intelligence community know who our enemies are talking to, what they're
    saying, and what they're planning. Last year, Congress passed temporary
    legislation that helped our intelligence community monitor these
    communications.
        The legislation I am signing today will ensure that our intelligence
    community professionals have the tools they need to protect our country
    in the years to come. The DNI and the Attorney General both report that,
    once enacted, this law will provide vital assistance to our intelligence
    officials in their work to thwart terrorist plots. This law will ensure
    that those companies whose assistance is necessary to protect the
    country will themselves be protected from lawsuits from past or future
    cooperation with the government. This law will protect the liberties of
    our citizens while maintaining the vital flow of intelligence. This law
    will play a critical role in helping to prevent another attack on our
    soil.
        Protecting America from another attack is the most important
    responsibility of the Federal Government, the most solemn obligation
    that a President undertakes. When I first addressed the Congress after
    9/11, I carried a badge by the mother of a police officer who died in
    the World Trade Center. I pledged to her, to the families of the
    victims, and to the American people that I would never forget the wound
    that was inflicted on our country. I vowed to do everything in my power
    to prevent another attack on our Nation. I believe this legislation is
    going to help keep that promise. And I thank the Members who have joined
    us. And now it's my honor to sign the bill.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:17 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House. H.R. 6304, approved July 10, was assigned Public Law No. 110-261.